Some of the anger that sprang up in Bone after the incident at Woolworth's continues to grow inside of her and she finds that she resents the way that people look at her and the way they treat her and her family.  Her distrust is evident in that she will not admit to anyone the way that Glen treats her because she cannot bring herself to trust anyone who she considers an "outsider."

As Bone grows more and more intrigued by religion, she finds that she has another outlet for her rage but also a way of coping with it.  She finds herself drawn towards a vindictive god who will punish those who sin and she can see the way that others treat her and her family as sin and so the idea of them being punished is very appealing.  She also begins to connect people who treat her with disrespect to the way that people look at blacks in the same community.

She also finds a friend and confidant in Shannon but then after Shannon's terrible death, she tries to do what is right and treat people well but things continue to go very badly for her and her family.  Her feelings about the constant abuse become the force behind very masochistic feelings and a somewhat twisted sexual feeling that is centered around violence.